Birdcage
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: One-shot. Side story to "Changing Bed Sheets". Even the simplest of activities can cause much deeper feelings to surface. Feeding birds would bring most people joy, but for Andie it just reminds her of her own cage that she seems to be living in... And only she can unlock it. Finnian/OC


Andie had always loved being outdoors. Much, much more than being cooped up inside. She liked the fresh air, the various sounds and smells, the feeling of being out in the open... She welcomed all kinds of weather and enjoyed nothing more than watching, or even assisting, Finnian with the gardening.

But even now there were still always new flowers and new creatures to discover. Things that probably wouldn't seem that abnormal to most people. But Andie had never had a whole lot to do with wildlife - to her, being able to explore such a wide expanse of the Phantomhive grounds at her own free will had opened her eyes to so many more amazing things.

"Hey Andie! Look how many birds there are!"

Andie turned to see Finnian staring ahead in delight through large sea blue eyes. She followed his gaze and sure enough, there were a flock of no fewer than twenty sparrows gathered on the lawn. They were hopping about and pecking at the ground, and certainly paying no mind to the two young servants.

"Why are there so many?" Andie asked, kneeling down so that she could try and count them better. It still didn't work - they kept moving around.

"The ground's really damp here," said Finnian, stamping one of his wellington boots against the wet grass as emphasis. "They must be looking for worms."

"Oh..."

"I know! Wait here a second!" Finnian suddenly decided. "I'll be back!"

"Oh. Okay."

Andie watched as Finnian raced back across the lawn towards the manor, before turning her attention back to the birds. She was crouching quite close to them but they didn't seem to mind. She wanted to try creeping closer, but was worried that it might make them all fly away.

Finnian soon returned, waving a bag of bread scraps. "I thought we could feed them," he beamed. "Bard was gonna throw these out."

"Um, okay." Even after all this time at the manor, Andie still wasn't a girl of many words.

"Here, I'll show you."

Finnian threw some of the bread scraps towards the sparrows, which they fought over eagerly. He then dropped more at his and Andie's feet. Several of the birds hopped closer, displaying no signs of fear.

Finnian grabbed another handful of bread and this time held them out in his hand with his palm facing upwards. Andie watched in amazement as a few of the sparrows started to peck the bread out of his hand without any further coaxing.

"Now you try," said Finnian, seeing the look on Andie's face. "Drop some closer to your feet first and then hold your hand out flat on the ground. Just make sure you don't move too quickly."

"Right."

Andie took some bread from the bag and sprinkled crumbs on the ground around her. She kept the rest in her hand, holding it flat against the grass like Finnian had told her. Sure enough, more of the sparrows began to take the scraps right out of her hand.

One even hopped up onto her fingertips to try and get the best selection. Andie tried her hardest not to move, still watching in fascination. She couldn't believe how friendly they seemed. "They're not scared of me!"

Finnian smiled, pleased that she seemed happy. "They just need to learn to trust. I've been feeding them every day so they're quite used to people!" After they'd gone through almost all of the bread scraps he then added, "Come with me. I want to show you something."

"Okay." Andie tipped the last of the scraps from her hand onto the grass, which were quickly gobbled up by the surrounding sparrows. Once the bread was gone they turned back to picking for worms. They clearly weren't too fussy as to where their meal came from.

Finnian led Andie back towards the manor and down to the servant's quarters. They trudged right down to the end of the room, next to the boiler cupboard, where Finnian pulled a small cardboard box from underneath one of the nightstands. When he opened the lid there was another sparrow sitting inside, nestled amongst a bed of leaves and woolly material.

"I found her last week," he explained. "She couldn't fly - I think her wing was hurt somehow. So I've been looking after her until she gets better."

"Will she be okay?" asked Andie worriedly.

"Birds heal quite quickly," Finnian assured her. "She should be able to fly again in a few more days."

The sparrow watched them curiously through beady black eyes, chirping so softly that it was barely discernible. She looked quite comfy in the box and certainly didn't seem to mind being looked after. There was already a handful of bread crumbs in one corner, proving that she definitely got enough to eat.

"She's cute," said Andie, inspecting the bird up close. "Can I touch her?"

"Of course you can! Just be really gentle - use the back of your finger," Finnian guided her. "She's gotten quite friendly, so she doesn't seem to mind."

Andie tentatively reached a hand into the box and very, _very_ carefully stroked along the feathers of the bird's spine with the back of one of her fingers. It was so soft... Softer even than she'd imagined. The little sparrow continued to cheep uninterrupted, not at all bothered by the contact.

"Are you really going to let her go?" Andie asked. "Wouldn't you want to keep her?"

"No, I couldn't do that!" exclaimed Finnian.

"Why not?" Andie questioned, nonplussed. "I thought people kept birds as pets. They keep them in those fancy cages, don't they?"

Finnian shook his head. "Sparrows are wild birds - they're not tame like pet birds are."

"This one seems tame," Andie commented softly, still not quite understanding.

Finnian smiled. "That's just because she's friendly. It's okay to give birds a helping hand if they need it, but they're still independent to people. They need to be able to fly free. They're not supposed to be kept in cages."

"Oh, I see..."

The words hit home harder than they should have done. Because that was how Andie felt herself. Sometimes it was as if she could almost see the bars of a cage surrounding her life. It was how she'd always felt. She'd felt trapped in her own life before she'd come to live at Phantomhive Manor... And now she just felt like she'd moved to a bigger cage. A cage that she never left.

She wasn't bound to this place. She wasn't put under rule that she wasn't allowed to step outside of the grounds. In fact, master Ciel had once wanted to take the whole staff with him on one of his trips outside of London. But Andie had refused to leave the manor. Instead Finnian and Tanaka had stayed with her so that she wouldn't be left on her own.

The truth was that Andie had put the cage in place herself, even if she didn't quite realise it. She was too afraid of the outside world. She'd always been afraid... of everyone. She'd been afraid when she'd first come to Phantomhive Manor too. It had taken a long time to finally feel at home there.

She was still too scared to take that step and try to do the same outside of the manor. The rest of the world was much, much bigger than one estate. Andie wasn't like a bird. She didn't think she could ever be independent of people. She felt that she'd always need that helping hand. She couldn't fly free like birds could...

"Andie?"

Andie jumped. She'd been so deep in thought that she hadn't realised that Finnian had been trying to get her attention. She looked up and saw that his turquoise eyes looked troubled, a slight frown creasing his usually smooth forehead.

"I'm sorry that we can't keep her," he apologised. "But if you like you can come with me when I let her go?"

He'd misinterpreted what she was thinking about. But as always he was just trying to be nice to her. That always made Andie happy. She smiled. "Okay. That sounds nice."

Finnian beamed back, glad that she seemed happier again. "Alright then. I'll be sure to let you know when she's ready!"

XXX

_"Andie! Hey Andie!"_

Andie looked up from where she'd been sat on the floor as she scrubbed at the glass door of the old grandfather clock, looking around the room curiously. She was sure that she'd heard something. It sounded like tapping... And a voice...

_Smash_. Andie almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of shattering glass. She scrambled to her feet to find a hole in the far window, framing the sheepish-looking face of the young gardener.

"Oops! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was tapping the window to try and get your attention... I guess I tapped too hard." Though he'd lived with it for quite a long time now, Finnian still couldn't always control his inhuman strength.

Andie quickly padded across the room in her bare feet to pull the window open. She was careful to avoid the broken glass on the floor. "Are you okay? Did you hurt your hand?"

"It's fine," Finnian grinned sheepishly, holding up his hand. His white gardener's glove was torn, but his fingers seemed to have escaped any damage. "Anyway, I was going to let our little friend go today. That's why I came to find you first. Did you still want to come with me?"

"Oh." Andie looked around behind her. The door leading out onto the hallway was closed. Sebastian would still be expecting her to be cleaning in here for at least another half an hour. Nobody would notice if she disappeared for a few minutes. "Yes. I still want to come. Hang on..."

Using her sleeve to sweep some of the glass shards from the windowsill, she pulled herself up onto it and clambered out through the open window. Finnian stepped aside as she landed in the long grass. He didn't comment on her not wearing shoes. She'd mentioned to him once before that she liked to feel everything underneath her feet, particularly grass.

He picked up the box that he'd set to one side whilst he'd been tapping on the window. "She's been getting restless. I think she's ready to fly."

Andie nodded. "Are you letting her out here?"

"I was going to let her out further down the lawn where we saw those other birds. Maybe she'll join them," Finnian smiled. "Come on, let's go."

Andie followed Finnian out across the lawn, down towards where the flock of sparrows were hunting for worms again. They stopped several feet away from them, in the middle of a wide expanse of the grass and open air. Plenty of space for the newly healed sparrow to fly off and explore.

"Do you want to take the lid off?" Finnian offered, holding the box out to her.

Andie looked at him in surprise - Finnian had had much more to do with the bird than she had - before nodding. "Okay."

She reached out tentatively and lifted the lid off the box. As soon as she did the sparrow hopped straight up onto the cardboard edge. It flicked its tail twice, looking back and forth between them through those beady dark eyes.

"Go on," Finnian encouraged the small bird. "Go and make friends. You belong with the other birds."

The sparrow simply blinked at him, then turned its head back towards Andie. Andie didn't really know what to say to a creature that could make the escape that she felt she could only dream of herself. So instead she just said, "Good luck."

As if on cue, the rest of the birds took off from the lawn in their group. The sky filled with their pretty brown wings. The little sparrow couldn't resist joining them. It spread its wings and soared off, up into the sky to join its friends. Andie craned her neck back to watch until she couldn't tell which was their one anymore.

The flock flew higher and higher, their silhouettes becoming even smaller, until Andie eventually couldn't see them at all. They vanished into the sunlight, leaving Andie feeling a little less melancholic than usual.

She may have still felt trapped within her own birdcage, but maybe one day she'd be able to find her wings and fly away too...

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Contest entry for a challenge within a writing group on deviantART. It's a three-part challenge with a different theme for each - the theme for this first one obviously being 'birdcage'. This was quite a symbolic piece for me! I think birdcages can definitely have a lot of meaning behind them though. I actually had about four different ideas to do for this theme - it was quite difficult to choose just one!

Decided to go for my Andie idea. She's always good for symbolism, being the poor broken toy that she is xD As a contest entry, this is obviously just a side piece to my main story "Changing Bed Sheets". This would probably be set quite a way into it... y'know where Andie actually TALKS a bit more. Even if she does overuse the word 'okay'. She's still not quite fixed yet |D


End file.
